The Road to Recovery: Kelly Severide Edition
by ParaNitroChick
Summary: This started out at as a deleted scene from episode 5X10 The People We Meet and evolved into a little story about Severide's recovery after the Bone Marrow Donation. All mistakes are mine, this is my first foray into Chicago Fire Fanfiction.


Clarke sat beside Severide's bed, he had thankfully lost consciousness during the procedure. He was still amazed he convinced Ms. Goodwin and his doctors to allow Kelly to undergo the procedure despite his injuries. He knew Severide was stubborn but to what lengths he was still deciding. Severide was in for one of hell of a ride when he woke up and if Clarke was honest there wasn't much they could do for him. The extent of just how much pain Kelly would be in was yet to be determined as he had yet to wake up. He wasn't needed in the ER at the moment so he sat waiting for his friend to wake.

A little while later Severide starts to stir, immediately the pain was evident on his face. Clarke was the first to speak "Try not to move, the Dilaudid is probably wearing off, so just push the button when you need more pain meds."

All Serveride can do is weakly shake his head, the pain is so intense it extends to every nerve in his body. Clarke tried to comfort him "it's the strongest stuff we can give you, I'm sorry." "Here" he said giving Severide the button controlling his pain pump. "Just Breathe." And with that he left Kelly to rest and fight the pain the best he could.

Kelly lay in his room the pain intensifying by the minute, he tried to sleep or at least take his mind off what he was experiencing. He knew that he would be in pain; after all he taken more that his fair share of falls but nothing he'd experienced prepared him for this level of pain. The nurses came to check on him periodically asked him if was experiencing any other discomfort. He told them no, but in truth after a few hours he was starting to experience nausea from the pain and he just couldn't seem to get warm. His body was constantly shaking like he was hypothermic. That effect he couldn't hide from the nurses and they explained it was one of the ways the body copes with pain.

After a while the nurses brought him a tray and tried to convince him to eat something telling him it wasn't good for his body to be without the nutrients it needed to heal. However, the sight and smell of the bland hospital food did nothing to calm his nausea; it only made it worse so he just let the tray sit. After a while Anna came to check up on him to make sure he was okay, Kelly again put on his brave face and tried convince her he was fine. For the most part it worked, he thought.

Soon Clarke came back with a nurse to retrieve Anna to prep her for her bone marrow transplant. Anna thanked Severide again and the nurse whisked her away. Clarke stayed with Kelly, right away he could tell Kelly wasn't fairing any better than when he left him earlier. " Throbbing, dizzy, can't eat; you don't have to pretend for me man. How's the pain, Kelly? And don't Bullshit me!" Kelly broke then knowing Clarke could see through the façade.

"Might hurt a little." He tried to assure Clarke.

"On a scale of 1-10?" Clarke asked him

"One Hundred." Severide finally admitted letting a couple of tears fall and taking shallow breaths attempting to breathe through the pain and the building nausea. He hated being weak in front of others, it didn't really match his bad boy image. But he couldn't hide it anymore. As they talked Clarke noticed a change in his friends breathing, and the pallor of his skin taking on a whiter appearance.

"Hey Kelly, are you okay?" Clarke asked

"No" he said breathlessly," I think, ugh; I'm going to be sick." was all he managed before he started coughing

Clarke sprang into action grabbing an emesis bag from a nearby holder; quickly giving it to Severide. Having consumed nothing since before his procedure, Severide was overcome only with painful looking dry heaves. Clarke stood by making sure his friend was okay, any forceful movement by his body was sure to make his hip pain worse and Kelly was already maxed out on pain meds. After a few minutes Severide set the bag aside within easy reach as he had a feeling his ordeal wasn't over.

Kelly sat back in his bed, closed his eyes and tried to relax and get his body to settle again. Clarke left to get him some water, which Kelly gratefully took from him. "Slow Sips man, don't want it coming back up." Severide did as instructed. Then sat back closing his eyes again.

"Listen man, I'm going to talk to your doctor about getting you something to help with your nausea." "Meanwhile try to get some more rest."

Kelly kept his eyes closed but nodded before Clarke left the room. A little while later a nurse entered the room to let Severide know his doctor ordered Zofran to help with his nausea while injecting it into his IV, telling him it should make him feel better shortly. Kelly just laid in his bed continuing to breathe through the pain and discomfort. After a while the nausea eased and Kelly started to feel like he might be able to tolerate some light foods. The nurse brought him a tray with some toast and a banana. He was careful not to eat too fast as he didn't want to upset the good thing he had going. After a while he fell asleep and got a little bit of the needed rest his body was craving.

Later in the day a few of the members of the E.D. Department stopped in to say hello and check up on him. Clarke checked in again after his shift and sat with him while the watched a bit of the Blackhawks playing the Wild; but Severide still very medicated fell asleep after the 2nd period. So, Clarke left for the night telling the nurses he would check in on him again before his next shift in the mid-morning.

After having a bit of a break during the early evening, in the middle of the night the pain returned ten-fold and despite the anti-nausea meds Severide was sick multiple times throughout the night. Each time the movement of his body causing more pain in his already sensitive hip. When Clarke returned for his shift later in the morning he was met with the concerning site of Severide doubled over vomiting. After getting a quick update as to what had transpired overnight he went to check in with Severide. "What happened man?" "When I left, you had dozed off watching the hockey game like a little girl." Severide just sighed, breathing shallow once again keeping a fresh emesis bag close at hand. Clarke could tell he wasn't in the joking mood, so he just let it be.

"The nurse told me the pain came back overnight, I'm sorry man. I wish it was going to be an easy recovery; but we both know it's going to take a day or two more before the pain starts to lessen." Severide just nodded trying to keep more dry heaves at bay. When the nurse returned to give Severide a higher dose of the Zofran Clarke left to get ready for his shift. An hour later his nausea was under control again and he was able to doze off.

Later in the afternoon, they wanted to get him up and walking. It was important to keep blood clots from developing in his legs from sitting so much. The walking seemed to help a little bit; the pain while still there wasn't as bad as it had been that morning and definitely not as bad as it was yesterday. That night they gave him permission to go see Anna which he was more than happy to do. She was very happy to see him up and about. In fact, that is where Kidd found him. She had come to check up on him and brought him something light to eat from his favorite sandwich shop near his apartment. She peeked in through the door and was going to knock but saw how much they were enjoying each other's company. So, she turned away with a sad smile on her face and walked away; making a mental note to check up on him after he got released. Severide never knew she was there; that night as he went back to his room he felt happy for the first time in a long time. He was falling in love with Anna, there was no denying it. But did she feel the same? Time will tell he told himself as he fell asleep that night.

The next day he was discharged from the hospital with prescriptions for two pain meds, with strict instructions not to overdo or exert himself doing anything for two weeks and no lifting anything over 5 pounds. Which meant no work and sitting at home being bored? Casey came to pick him up at the hospital. They went for a light lunch then Casey dropped him off at home. It was tough for him to be without a car. He had yet to see a check from the insurance company from the accident a week earlier. He was still kind of reeling from the events that took place in that short period and while that little girl's death wasn't his fault he still felt some responsibility for the events that led up to it. If he had just gone to work that day, the accident never would have happened. But what's done is done. He can't keep blaming himself for what happened, he wasn't the guy who crashed into the minivan.

Putting his coat in the hallway closet, he took his bag with his clothes to his bedroom and tossed them on the floor. He could at least do laundry, but right now that was the last thing he wanted to do. He glanced through the information on his pain meds, took a dose and lay down in his bed to take a nap. After a few hours, he roused himself, made some dinner and settled for a movie on the couch. The pain wasn't bad as it was back in the hospital, but it was far from absent. Kidd called to check on him about 9 pm that night and asked him if he needed anything. He politely declined and thanked her for being there when he woke up from the accident after the explosion at the call. He went to bed about midnight. The next morning, he got up, ate breakfast took some of his pain meds and went about some light cleaning of his apartment. After about 30 minutes he started feeling nauseous and had to sit down at the kitchen counter. Taking a few sips of water, he sat there hoping it would pass; just too much too soon he thought. But hoping did him no good, minutes later he was scrambling for the bathroom where he lost his breakfast and the water he just consumed. He was aware that the pain meds could make him sick, he was a firefighter after all and had constant lectures from Shay in the past. He was just hoping that he wouldn't be one of the lucky ones. After a few minutes of vomiting and a few dry heaves he hoped the worst was over. Rising to his feet, because his current position was doing nothing to help the pain in his hip and back. He rinsed his mouth before brushing his teeth then went to lie down on his bed. Hoping the nausea would subside if he rested for a bit, and thankfully it after a while. Thankful for no return trips to the bathroom he called Chicago Med and explained what was going on, the nurse told him it was okay to cut back on the two pain meds. To try just taking one with some Advil if he could tolerate the pain. He told her he would call back if there were any more problems or if the nausea continued despite the changes.

After another day or so Severide started feeling more like himself; three days later he was starting to move more. While he didn't have permission to return to duty, Clarke had come by for a beer and had told him it was okay to start walking around the block if he wanted too. He was grateful for any chance to get out of the house. Today Casey was coming to pick him up to take him to some dealerships. His insurance check had finally come in a couple of days after he got home from the hospital and he was eager to have a car again. The insurance settlement wasn't all he hoped but it was enough for a decent down payment. Matt tried to talk him in to a more sensible car, but Severide wouldn't have it and after a few dealerships drove off the lot in a 2017 Gray Ford Mustang V6 Fastback like a kid on Christmas with his new toy; He was in heaven.

After a week at home and finally behind the wheel again he stopped by Chicago Med to see Anna, she was responding well to the bone marrow transplant. They hadn't told her when she might be able to go home yet. She told him that they wanted to make sure that she wasn't going to reject the bone marrow and that her immune system was starting recover before they chanced sending her out into the world beyond the sterile environment of the hospital. She enjoyed his company and they talked and laughed for hours about anything and everything. Each passing minute Severide felt closer to her and started to feel that she truly might be the one he's been looking for all this time.

After another week of rest and some moderate workouts he is given full clearance to return to duty full time on Squad 3 but under strict orders to come back to the hospital if anything seemed wrong or he began to experience pain beyond what he could handle. Everyone was happy to see him back and things with Anna were starting to look more promising. But he didn't know just how right or promising things were going to get. What does the future hold, only time would tell?

End Scene: :-)


End file.
